A top Russian investigator involved in serious economic crimes and corruption cases has been shot dead in the Moscow region, officials say.

The Investigative Committee's Moscow branch told Russian news agencies that Colonel Yevgenia Shishkina was shot in the neck on October 10 when she was leaving her apartment block in the town of Arkhangelskoye, near the capital.

Committee spokeswoman Olga Vrady said Shishkina had received threats and that her car was burned in an arson attack several months ago.

Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement that its chief, Aleksandr Bastrykin, took the investigation into Shishkina's killing under his personal control and ordered the Main Investigative Directorate to probe the killing.